1. Ending violence against men and boys
The majority of victims of violence in the UK are men and boys. Seven
out of 10 murder victims are men and men are 70% more likely to be
killed by someone they know and seven times more likely to be killed by a
stranger. Male victims of domestic violence and sexual violence are
less likely than their female counterparts to access help and support.
2. Stopping male suicide
Men are three times more likely to commit suicide and more than 10 men kill themselves every day in the UK.
3. Equal rights for dads
Unmarried fathers are not currently given automatic parental rights
from birth and the amount of parental leave and pay new parents can
qualify for is not equal for mums and dads. Campaign groups say law
reform is needed to promote and facilitate shared parenting after
separation and some are calling for an overhaul of the benefits system
to support shared parenting. Currently when separated parents share care
only one parent (usually mum) qualifies for support from the state
through child benefit, housing benefit, child tax credits etc.
4. Giving boys a better education
One in ten boys, for example, leave primary school at 11 with a
reading age of a 7 year old. Boys of all backgrounds are more likely to
be excluded from schools ranging from white boys who are 2.4 times more
likely to be excluded than a white girl to poor black boys with special
educational needs who are 168 times more likely to be excluded from
school than richer white girl with no special educational needs. Only
one in eight primary school teachers are male and one in four primary
schools have no male teachers.
5. Tackling negative portrayals of men in the media and promoting male role models.
6. Improving men’s health and life expectancy
Men of all backgrounds die on average 4 years younger than women with
the gap between the poorest men and richest women rising to over 10
years. Men are less likely to access and benefit from health services.
Men’s health researchers and campaigners say services need to change and
become more male friendly if we are to tackle men’s health
inequalities.
7. Tackling male disposability
The majority of homeless people, prisoners, children excluded from
school, children put into foster care, unemployed people and isolated
older people are men. More than 95% of people who die at work are men
and the majority of soldiers killed in service are men. Some campaigners
see this issue as a sign that we take men’s lives less seriously than
women’s lives and conclude that men are treated as being more
‘disposable’. For some campaigners this perception of ‘male
disposability’ is further exacerbated by the unequal number of schemes
and initiatives that are focused on supporting and helping women.
8. Ending unnecessary male circumcision
Everyday, as many as 100 Unnecessary Male Circumcisions are performed
legally on boys in the UK, often in non-medical settings without
anaesthetic. This practice can and does cause death, disability,
disease, pain and discomfort and physical damage.
9. Beating male cancer and tackling men’s cancer inequalities
Men are 70% more likely to die from the cancers that affect both
sexes, less money is spent on researching male cancers, more than 90% of
the people screened for cancer are women, and girls are now vaccinated
against some cancers but boys are not.
10. Tackling male unemployment
According to the ONS Labour Market Statistics for May 2012 there are
2.6 million people currently unemployed in the UK and 6 out of ten of
them are men. A report by the Higher Education Policy Institute think
tank found that male graduates are 50% more likely to end up unemployed.
http://internationalmensdayuk.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/top-10-mens-issues-revealed-on-international-mens-day/
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